A Five-Day Workshop aimed at training Women in International Peace Building and Multi-Track Diplomacy has ended in Monrovia with a call for participants to serve as peace monitors in their respective communities.

  According to a Foreign Ministry Release, the program brought together participants from several government institutions including the Foreign Service Institute and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as the Fifteen Political subdivisions of Liberia.

  Speaking at the colorful ceremony Thursday, Foreign Minister, Mrs. Olubanke King-Akerele, lauded the participants and facilitators for the success of the training, stressing that the exercise will help in maintaining peace in the country after the departure of UNMIL troops.

  Minister King-Akerele said the exercise is intended to empower women, who are more vulnerable in violence situations to get actively involved in the peace building process.

    She also lauded the Angie Brooks International Centre and the Norwegian Government for supporting peace-building initiatives in the country, which she noted, would help to sustain peace in Liberia.

  The Foreign Minister said Liberia has benefited tremendously from international peace efforts so it was time that the country gives back to the international community.
   Meanwhile, the Director of the Training Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, Dr. Eillen R. Borris, has commended the facilitators and participants for the week-long exercise, which he described as successful.

   Dr. Borris said the exercise will help the beneficiaries to be able to teach their follow Liberians how to forgive and forget the ugly past in order to rebuild their post-conflict society.

   In briefed remarks, the participants expressed gratitude to the Government of Liberia and the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy for initiating the program, and promised to help promote peace in the country.

   The program was attended by several high-profile individuals including Senior Ambassador-At-Large, Carton A. Karpeh, Commissioner Pearl Browne Bull of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Rev. J. Emmanuel Z. Bowier, Former Minister of Information, Culture Affairs and Tourism.